Submitting a Publication for an MLA Prize

Anyone may nominate a book for an MLA prize, but the author or publisher is responsible for sending the required number of copies, noted in the main list, to the MLA office before the deadline. An application form is required for submissions to the MLA Prize for Independent Scholars. To enter books into the competition for other prizes, no special form or procedure is needed, but shipments of books should be preceded or accompanied by letters identifying the works and, where necessary, confirming the authors' membership in the MLA. Shipping labels should indicate the names of the prizes for which the books are competing. Each item in the main list indicates, under the heading Eligibility, whether membership in the MLA is required. An author who is not a member of the MLA at the time of publication may become eligible to compete by joining the association before 1 May of the following year. No book may be entered in more than one MLA competition.

Unless otherwise noted, "literary studies" here encompasses works of literary history, literary criticism, philology, and literary theory, as well as works dealing with literature and other arts and disciplines. Translations are eligible only for the three awards specifically devoted to that category.